Surya Pahar Goalpara

Getting there

• By road

  The hill is about 13 km from Goalpara town and about 132 km northwest of Guwahati.

Why devotees come here

Sri Surya Pahar is a hill site in Goalpara district, Assam, about 13 km from Goalpara town. The Goalpara district government calls it an area famous for archaeological remains. Rock-cut Shiva lingas, stupas and images of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain deities are spread across the hill.

Sri Surya Pahar is a hill site in Goalpara district where rock-cut Shiva lingas, votive stupas and deities of the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions stand side by side. The hill was once a meeting point of the three religions, and sculptures and relics from each faith still show it. Surya, the sun deity, held a prominent place in the cultural history of the hill. A carved stone slab, now in the Sri Surya Temple, is worshipped as Surya.

Remains on the hill date from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Digs found a Buddhist stupa with a monastery, and a brick temple turned up in a later excavation. Two temple complexes came out of the later digs as well.

The panchayatana complex has a central temple and four smaller shrines inside a brick wall. Images of the 12 Adityas and other Hindu deities were found within it. The main Vishnu image from the central temple now sits in the Assam State Museum. The sculptural panels of Shiva and Vishnu follow the Eastern School of Art. As many as 25 votive stupas are cut from granite boulders across the hill.

Festivals

• Every January, starting on Maghi Purnima daySri Sri Surya Mela

  A three-day fair at the site. Thousands of devotees and visitors come during the Mela.

Tips for your visit

• Rock-cut carvings and stupas are scattered across the hill, not gathered in one spot.
• The Jain carving is inside one of the hill's natural caves, and a cavern of piled stones lies on the southern slope.
• An ancient Hanuman temple with old idols stands near Surya Pahar.

Questions people ask